5 Ways to Prepare Monarch Caterpillar Food with Milkweed Cuttings

Since monarchs only dine on milkweed, you’d think presenting them with monarch caterpillar food would be simple…

But, how milkweed meals are served could mean more work for you and an increased chance for monarch diseases. Why not raise monarchs to truly thrive?

Discover the simple solution we use for keeping milkweed fresh for days, while keeping caterpillars from crawling around in potentially disease-causing frass. (poop)

Milkweed stem cuttings can be taken in a variety of sizes, and placed in a variety of containers filled with water. Here are four options we regularly use to help raise our monarchs with a consistent 95% survival rate.

Use a sharp pruner to take your milkweed cuttings and cut the stem at a 45° angle. This allows the cuttings to take up more water and stay fresh for days. Nick the sides of the cutting in 2-3 more places for more water-entry points to avoid wilting.

1. Floral Tubes or Picks w/ Milkweed Stem Cuttings + Rack Holder

Floral Tube Set Up

Space out 6-8 stem cuttings inside our new floral tube rack holder. The rack keeps both floral picks and floral tubes elevated and secure. It also makes adding water easier since you can move 8 floral tubes picking up 1 rack. When removing from the cage, I set the rack on a boot tray in case any caterpillars fall from their cuttings. This should not happen if you are careful, but at some point, having a tray will save you from losing a caterpillar.

Pierce the middle of the storage container lid with a sharp knife, than stick a phillips head screwdriver through the hole. Put marbles or vase fillers inside the container and put on the lid. The marbles/vase fillers will hold each pick in place and keep the cutting upright.

C. Floral Picks, Styrofoam Cooler lid, Rock

Use a raised styrofoam lid so the floral picks won’t pierce the cage floor. Place a flat rock in the middle of the lid to keep it in place.

D. Food Storage Containers, Marbles/Vase Fillers

Use the same food storage container as B, but this time put the cuttings directly through each lid hole. If there are any small holes the caterpillar could crawl through, cover them with small strips of duct tape after the cutting has been inserted into the water.

If you want a container that holds more water use a wider container (ie food container, short jar) instead of a taller container (ie gatorade bottle, water bottle) because tall containers are more likely to tip over. 😱

note: a jar opening would need to be covered with plastic wrap with stems stuck through to avoid accidental drownings.

E. Floral Picks, Food Storage Containers, Marbles/Vase Fillers

Leaf cuttings can be effective for keeping single common or swamp milkweed leaves fresh to hatch eggs or feed small caterpillars.

Don’t use the food storage container lid so you can angle the floral pick in the container. This allows the common milkweed leaf to sit in a horizontal position, which is convenient for placing monarch eggs or caterpillars:

You could also try putting in 2-3 leaves of other varieties with smaller petioles. This will keep them from coming out of the floral tube.

Comments

Floral picks work well for me. I just put them in a glass or jar to hold them upright.

I also have had success raising cats in jars with just leaves. I put a piece of paper towel in the bottom of the jar and drop in just enough water to make it damp. I lean individual leaves against the side of the jar where they will last for several days to a week. The jar has a lid with holes which gives circulation, but also holds the moisture in. When the cats are really tiny and could escape through the holes, I put a coffee filter over the top of the jar before I screw on the lid. I don’t have a very big operation, so I only have one cat per jar any may have up to 10 jars going at once on a shaded window sill. A piece of masking tape on the jar allows me to track dates of each individual’s progress.

As frass accumulates, I pull out the leaf with the cat and dump the rest of the contents. Then I my friend gets a fresh piece of damp paper towel and fresh leaves for another week. I’ve learned not to actually wash the jar with each cleaning because it removes the fine web the cats build on the side of the jar for traction.

I used the containers with floral stones, so much easier than leaf by leaf. I did use some common leaves, since they are so big, didn’t want to totally strip the plant, but you advised it would grow back, so I went back to the containers. Originally had 17 cats, last 2 J’d last evening, sadly they were having some sort of issue, so I euthanized them. Thank you so much for all the great info you provide.

I’m glad the cuttings are working for your Theresa…they really make raising so much easier and can be even more helpful if you have a limited milkweed supply. congrats again to you and your grandkids on the first big batch of monarchs in a while!

I’ll pick leaves from the wild milkweed in the fields, put them between moist paper towels in a Ziploc bag, and either put them in the fridge or the freezer. I lay them down on the paper towels in the screened aquarium as needed. They are always fresh….and doesn’t seem to dampen their appetites in the least. And it saves the plants in my yard for egg depositing.

Hi Joan, storing leaves in the refrigerator definitely keeps them fresh, but stem cuttings require less switching out of milkweed and keep the caterpillars from crawling around in frass. You can also take short cuttings so there’s lots of milkweed left outside for eggs.

I know people have started finding eggs in your region, so keep your eyes peeled and good luck!

Hi Tony, I use the floral tubes (aquatube) with the rounded bottoms. They are 4 inches tall. I press the tubes into a floral foam ring and I can fit about 9 water tubes in one foam ring. This foam looks like an O-ring washer, only much larger, of course. I have to be careful when pressing the tubes in, because it a little fragile and too much pressure can crack the ring. I have also used paper/plastic cups, inverted with a hole on the bottom of the cup to insert the water tubes. It works, but with many caterpillars, it takes more space. The Monarchs haven’t reached my gardens yet, so I have been using the floral tubes on the Eastern Black Swallowtails. It works very well. I had around 70 eggs and about half of them are caterpillars now, they are using the water tube method for feeding and egg hatching. I think this is going to be another busy summer. Happy Gardening!

Here in SoCal, we’ve been hatching eggs for quite some time. I found myself with too many caterpillars for the number of containers I had. I finally settled on the shallow containers from KFC, the ones with the red lids. I punched four holes around the edge, filled with water, and stuck in the cuttings of my tropical milkweed. My container holds three of these waterers, and they are flat so they don’t turn over. And, they are free with your dinner!

We are heading out on vacation for three weeks pretty soon, so I have hatched all my babies and set them free, and will pick up again when we get home. Didn’t want to turn the raising over to strangers – too much work!

The small serving containers for side dishes at most fast food places have a good low center of gravity with a hole poked in the cover to hold several leaves upright, and fit inside a large tank or enclosure. More kFC mashed potatoes!

Hi all, This is the first year that I will be trying to raise monarchs. I have plenty of common milkweed in my yard (no flowers on them yet) and spotted just one butterfly the other day. I’m afraid that I won’t find any eggs without more butterflies. What can I do?

Hi Sandi, you have milkweed and now monarchs in the area, so you’re off to a good start. In spring they often like to lay eggs on the milkweed buds before they flower so before to check those. Here are some raising tips to get you prepared for your first raising experience:

With regard to common milkweed having short stems and keeping the water level high…..I have had success in cutting the leaf away from the stem about an inch up to get the stem further into the tube. Doesn’t harm the leaf and less work. Great blogs! Haven’t seen any Monarchs in Virginia Beach yet! Currently raising Palamedes ST, American Lady, Snout, Red Spotted Purple, Pipevine ST, and Spicebush ST……the releases are awesome!

Thanks Tony for a lot of good info. Total rookie year, but so far so good. Here is a question I did not see (or missed). I have monarchs laying eggs on the common Milkweed in my yard, but I am running out of non aphid infested common milkweed to feed them as the season goes on, but have lots of swamp milkweed close at hand. Will they cross over to the different type of milkweed as tiny caterpillars?

I have no luck with cuttings. No matter whether I use picks or glass bottles, the cuttings wilt before they eat all the leaves. This is my first year with a butterfly cage and have had great success, but I have to use plants, not cuttings. Any advice?

Don’t forget the old common practice of pounding the stems of lilacs to keep them longer. I take a little hammer and lightly pound the milkweed stems before putting them in water. This exposes more stem to absorb water and they don’t wilt.

Hi, I am in central Florida expecting a hurricane and just found some baby Catapillars on my milkweed. We have had great luck and watched about 30 chrysalis hatch and fly away last month. I would like to try and save them from the storm. I don’t have the bud containers or really anything. I’m new at this . Am I wrong to do this? They are in my fenced in yard but the storm will probably destroy them

Hi Megg, if you don’t have a caterpillar cage, you can always try makeshift cages like jars, buckets, or food storage containers. You can place tulle fabric over the top (with a rubber band) instead of the cover to give the cage better ventilation. This should give them a much better chance of survival.

I’ve used a few of your tips, but will definitely put more of these into use. I’ve had years where I was running out of milkweed, and I recently came across information that during their final instar, Monarchs will eat the exposed interior flesh of cucumber and pumpkin! So this could be a lifesaver for those running out of food if you have a second cage to move the big boys into, as they aren’t going to change food sources unless the Milkweed is removed and this is the stage that they eat the most. Their frass will be orange if they eat the pumpkin! I would think organic would be preferable, but washing and removing the skin either way would be wise. Very informative, useful website for beginners and pros alike!

Hi Kris, an aphid infestation isn’t good for the health of your plants, but monarchs can survive on plants with aphids. If you are bringing in stem cuttings you can just rinse the aphids off. Here’s more oleander aphid info:

I find that the medium size clear plastic to go drink cups with the lid on is great vase for the milkweed. I also use the gray cardboard 4 cup drink holders perfect to hold the cups. Together. They are heavy enough to hold the cage down so it doesn’t blow over outside ! Plus it’s also recyclable when it’s time to clean the cage!

I have tried cuttings, but they only seem to stay fresh a few days, and then you are hunting for caterpillars 🐛 to move them to new cuttings. I really prefer 1 or 2 gallon organic non- sprayed milkweed PLANTS inside the cage. They can last for a couple of weeks, and you can then recycle them, replacing them with fresh plants, and putting the old ones out to recover and regrow. I now have about 25 plants to recycle when it is time to replace. My large cage holds 4 two gallon, or 6 one gallon milkweed plants.

Hi Mary Sue, the problem with plants is that they are harder to rinse/clean, and there’s more hiding places for stowaway predators to hide. We raise ours in a porch so they’re exposed to the outdoor climate minus the extremes…and no predators and disease issues.

If your cuttings are wilting, nick the sides so there are more water entry points…it works!

I planted tropical milkweed seeds last year in two pots outdoors by our patio, and had a lot of nicely blooming plants last summer. I saw at least two Monarchs on the blooms. We are not on the major flyway south of Fort Worth, TX. We over wintered the plants indoors. They are close to blooming again outdoors. We had two Monarch caterpillars that I saw, eating something on the dead portion of the stalks—like little bugs or whatever, even though there were plenty of green leaves. On May 1, I saw a caterpillar in the J position under our glass patio table, soon becoming a green chrysalis. It turned black Sat. I was so excited! As a perfect Mother’s Day gift, the butterfly emerged perfectly yesterday, the 14th! My husband thinks the eggs had to be layed this spring, but we have had no butterflies that I have seen. Could the eggs have survived from last fall? Thanks for your help! Carole

I have about ten milkweed plants that I started from seeds last year. Are there any monarchs in southern ohio. I havent seen one in ten years, but I didnt have any milkweed then. My plants are about three feet tall an one has several buds on it. Heres hoping! Luther

When bringing in fresh milkweed clippings to replace the wilted ones, should we leave the wilted ones that have very young caterpillars on them in the flower pick and add fresh ones or should we transfer the tiny caterpillars from the old milkweed to the fresh? I’ve tried cutting around the caterpillar on the old leaf and setting it on the new leaf, but they tend to fall off. I’ve tried leaving the leaves flat on the bottom of the cube, but they become covered in frass so I’d like to continue with vertical clippings in the tubes. Not sure if I should ever “encourage” the little caterpillars to move from the old to the new leaf…

Hi Kathleen, the cuttings should not be wilting. Try taking them in the evening or early morning and nick the sides several times so it can take in more water. When the cuttings are getting near the end, just place a new cutting next to the old one so the caterpillar can crawl over…good luck!

If I place my milkweed cuttings and caterpillars inside a terrarium, should the milkweed height reach the top fo the terrarium so they can get up there, or can they climb the naked walls? If the milkweed should reach the ceiling of the terrarium, what safe material should I use as a shelf for my milkweed inside the terrarium? thanks!

Hi Tony, Thanks so much for supplying us with a plethora of knowledge on all things monarchs. I am a librarian and this is my second summer raising monarchs in the library for all to see and follow. Everyone is fascinated … and all my staff have become monarch experts. 🙂

My question is regarding cleaning cut milkweed : when I have time I like to soak my milkweed cuttings in a sink of fresh water (AFTER checking that there aren’t eggs or itty bitty cats on the leaves, of course!). This gets rid of most – but NOT all – of the pests that share the milkweed with my caterpillars. What is the best way to truly clean the milkweed? I find I have to go leaf-by-leaf and pick/smear/flick off any aphids or other unidentifiables that may have survived the sink soak. I’m always worried I’ll miss something and lose a caterpillar to tachnid flies or some other pest. Any other way to do this? Seems like such an arduous task and I’m wondering if there are any shortcuts … if not, I’ll carry on as before but thought I’d ask.

Hi Monica, how great to hear the whole library staff is getting involved! For cuttings, I would not worry so much about bringing in tachinids. If a caterpillar has tachinid flies, they got to them outside before you did. Small spiders are another story. One way they can be avoided is by never bringing in buds/flowers on your cuttings because those are easy places to hide. I don’t soak cuttings, just rinse them thoroughly under the sink. happy raising!

I am currently raising a monarch caterpillar. I hear you have to change the leaves every day, because they can carry disease if they are to old. I put a new leaf in but yet my caterpillar stays on the old one. That kind of concerns me. How can I get him to the new leaf?

I currently have 18 Monarch Caterpillars that were found on my common milk weed plants. They have eaten an entire plant in 2 days. I have several types of milkweed in my yard can they eat any of them? I’ve only foumd them on my common milkweed plants. So I’m not intirely sure.

My first year raising Monarchs, quite by coincidence. I have a large patch of Common milkweed in my backyard. Watched a female go from plant to plant depositing her eggs. I then harvested 5 eggs, and one 1st stage “cat”. This was August 2nd, the “cat” is now 5th onstar, and I think very soon will be looking to pupate. The eggs all hatched and are now in their 3rd instar. Fascinating to watch, and yes a lot of work cleaning leaves and frass, but well worth it. Found two more eggs today (August 11th, 2017) while getting fresh food. I live in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. Can’t wait to continue this great cause next year, now that I know what I’m doing. Thanks for all the tips, your site has been very helpful.

Hello, I have been moving monarch caterpillars from a scrawny milkweed plant by my front porch to an area in my garden that I have allowed milkweed to grow large and undisturbed. They seem to thrive there. We were surprised but happy to find a chrysalis hanging from the bottom of a wooden porch table quite a distance from any milkweed. Don’t really know how long it was there but yesterday I observed that it was still dark. This morning it is empty and the bottom is open as though it hatched. Is this possible?

I tried to remove a dead chrysalis and three were attached to a webbing and fell down I have the webbing with three hanging from bag clips but not sure it would hold. What do you do if one falls from the top of the cube ? How do you hang it?

Hi Carol, if the bag clips close tightly that could work. You could also use binder clips. We use scotch magic tape to rehang under cupboards and on our kitchen overhang. I recently discovered it sticks well to the top of the cube too. If you try that, just put a towel on the floor to make sure it holds…good luck!

This is my first attempt at raising a monarch caterpillar. He came out of his egg Aug. 24 and has been doing well in the food container – I clean the box and bring in a fresh milkweed leaf every day. He’s molted at least twice and has been growing and eating. Until today. I don’t think he’s moved at all today – and I’m concerned he might have died, but hope he’s maybe just having a lazy day. Any thoughts?

PS – good news – just checked on the sleepy caterpillar and it looks like he wasn’t moving all day because he was getting ready to molt again this afternoon. Now he’s munching away on the leaf. As I said, I’m a novice at this!

I successfully recovered and raised 20 late-comer cats, with only 4 casualties. Too cold to release here, so I drove to TX last weekend (visited family as well). Fingers crossed that they all make it to Mexico🤞🏻

Hello, I live on the central coast of California. Our local Monarch lady told me to cut my tropical milkweed all the way back this week. I went out to do it and found two eggs. There isn’t much milkweed left out there…do I bring these last two eggs in and cut the milkweed after I raise these two? Are they the last of the season or will more eggs be laid? I don’t want to mess up. Thank you!

Hi Claire, it’s impossible to ‘predict’ monarchs but it’s important to cut back the milkweed at some point. You can always stagger the cuttings so there will always be a few plants available for emergencies. congrats on finding more eggs and good luck!

I live in arizona and brought in a monarch cat that was found on Desert Milkweed (Asclepias subulata) I’ve offered it leaves from tropical milkweed but so far it’s ignoring them. Do monarch cats eat tropical milkweed? I’m afraid it will starve as my Asclepias subulata doesn’t have many leaves left!

I was evacuated in the massive northern california wild fires from 10/10 through 10/23 and evacuated with 4 cats that I managed to feed for about a week before I ran out of milkweed. Thankfully, one local nursery still had milkweed and took them. Then, I came home a few days ago and found five 1″ long cats on my milkweed despite very heavy smoke and ash fall. They are hearty and eating well. Here’s my dilemma. I’ve kept two outside and brought in three because I don’t have much milkweed left. This is my first year trying to raise them and my cuttings just wilt within an hour despite a full container. I was taking the top leaves on the stems with the flowers because other caterpillars had already eaten the leaves below. Is there a technique to cutting milkweed? Size? part of the plant? I realize this is very late in the season but it’s still 90 degrees outside here in Santa Rosa CA and it’s a miracle they lived through the fires.

Hi Jill, I’m happy to hear you were able to return to your home. Also glad to hear your local monarchs are surviving through fires and excessive heat. You can really use any size cutting…for smaller cuttings you can use floral tubes, and for larger cuttings you can use containers. What matters most is the condition of the milkweed you are using. Good luck!

I had 14 caterpillars from instar 1 to instar 4 and when we bought two new milkweed plants Friday, they all died the next day! The new milkweed looks okay, a little darker or different variety from the one we’ve always used, and my caterpillars frankly looked miserable kinda rolling around before they just lay there. I don’t know what I did wrong. Maybe the new milkweed was contaminated in some way?

I have two spindly milkweed plants that are quickly being consumed by several cats but I really don’t want to buy more plants (even if they are available). What happens to them if they run out of food? Will they eat anything else that happens to be nearby?